A solar-energy-derived strained hydrocarbon as an energetic hypergolic fuel

Quadricyclane (QC), synthesized from photoisomerization and commonly used for solar-energy conversion and storage, is found to be an excellent hypergolic fuel. The ignition delay time of QC–N2O4 is 29 ms, which is decreased to 18 ms by addition of boron nanoparticles. Importantly, quadricyclane has 18.9% higher specific impulsion than currently used but dangerous dimethylhydrazine.